I’ve had several inquiries about the location of Thomas Nevell’s account book and how I access the scans I’ve used in the posts. The account book is in the collection of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Several years ago the the account book was scanned at high resolution and became available to the public through the internet. The manuscript can be found here:
http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/pageturn.html?id=MEDREN_4008367&
You can zoom on the pages and jump to pages as they are numbered in the book. The highlighted text in the blog posts will direct you to the page from which I’ve drawn the highlighted debit or credit while all the images can be enlarged by clicking on them.
In 2011 Erin E. Kuykendall completed her Masters thesis PHILADELPHIA CARPENTERS, CABINETMAKERS, & CAPTAINS: THE WORKING WORLD OF THOMAS NEVELL, 1762–1784, University of Delaware. Her analysis of the account book, Nevell’s working life, and his interactions with his apprentices and journeymen and his clients, though not generally available, is required reading for those wanting to delve deeper into Nevell’s story .
In Proportion to the Trouble 